2017 Elanora Heights Public School Annual Report...Introduction The Annual Report for 2017€is...

Elanora Heights Public SchoolAnnual Report

2017

4199

Printed on: 5 April, 2018 of 20 Elanora Heights Public School 4199 (2017)

Introduction

The Annual Report for 2017 is provided to the community of Elanora Heights Public School as an account of theschool's operations and achievements throughout the year.

It provides a detailed account of the progress the school has made to provide high quality educational opportunities forall students, as set out in the school plan. It outlines the findings from self–assessment that reflect the impact of keyschool strategies for improved learning and the benefit to all students from the expenditure of resources, including equityfunding.

It is a pleasure to share the school's many achievements throughout 2017. Apart from our continued strength in studentperformance data, this year saw the introduction of a comprehensive music program, increased performing artsprograms, collaborative planning and mentoring initiatives for staff, enhanced access to interactive technologies forstudents, streamlined processes in our administration and communication methodologies and several projects toenhance the learning environment for our students. We entered teams in the Write A Book In A Day competition, theTournament of Minds, Maths Challenge Camp, Premier’s Debating Challenge and the Peninsula Community of School’sScience Fair. On the sporting field our students represented the school at state and national levels, with our PSSA teamsbringing home winning patches in various sports.

Our student wellbeing programs in 2017 saw the introduction of Mindfulness lessons, the Elanora Etiquette for studentsin K–2 and even involved our students making their own lunches and eating a rainbow of foods to develop soundnutrition skills.

Throughout the year the school fully embraced a new financial management program, SAP, which had a significantimpact on our hard working administration team.

Our P and C and parent volunteers worked tirelessly throughout the year to support the school in providing a premiumpublic education experience for our students. Through funds raised by our P and C, our students benefitted from accessto laptops to support their learning, improved lighting and staging in our hall and new blazers for our student leadershipteam. In 2018 we will see the installation of beautiful new playground equipment at the end of Term 1, as a result of the Pand C's fundraising efforts.

Our community was given the opportunity to provide feedback throughout the year via a range of feedback mechanismsincluding meetings and information forums and school wide student, parent and teacher surveys. The school participatedin the External Validation process in October, which provided vital information regarding our current level of performance,along with guidance for developing our next 3 year strategic plan.

Leesa Martin

Principal

School contact details

Elanora Heights Public School43 Elanora RoadElanora Heights, 2101www.elanorahts-p.schools.nsw.edu.auelanorahts-p.School@det.nsw.edu.au9913 7283


School background

School vision statement

An effective, collaborative and engaged community that develops creative, highly–motivated and successful lifelonglearners.

School context

Elanora Heights Public School (EHPS) had an enrolment of 578 students at our 2017 census date. 276 boys and 302girls were enrolled across K–6, allowing us to form 23 classes.

Elanora Heights Public School is a high performing school with a tradition of excellence across a number of areas.

We are a co–educational school offering students strong academic, sporting, creative and performing arts programs.

Our diverse curriculum and extracurricular programs cater for students with a full range of abilities and interests.

Our students come from a range of ethnic and socio–economic backgrounds.

Elanora Heights Public School is supported by an active and involved parent community.

Self-assessment and school achievement

Self-assessment using the School Excellence Framework

This section of the Annual Report outlines the findings from self–assessment using the School Excellence Framework,school achievements and the next steps to be pursued.

This year, our school undertook self–assessment using the School Excellence Framework and participated in an externalvalidation. The framework supports public schools throughout NSW in the pursuit of excellence by providing a cleardescription of high quality practice across the three domains of Learning, Teaching and Leading. During the externalvalidation process, an independent panel of peer principals considered our evidence and assessment of the school’sprogress, aligned with the standards articulated in the School Excellence Framework.

The results of this process indicated that we were sustaining and growing in the Learning Domain, and delivering in theTeaching and Leadership Domains.

Our self–assessment and the external validation process will assist the school to refine our school plan, leading to furtherimprovements in the delivery of education to our students.

For more information about the School Excellence Framework:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching–and–learning/school–excellence–and–accountability/self–evidence–guide


Strategic Direction 1

Creative Engaged Learners

Purpose

To develop literate, numerate and socially, environmentally and culturally aware students by providing learningexperiences that engage them and develop their ability to think critically, creatively and ethically.

Overall summary of progress

The school has been successful in its full implementation of the Australian Curriculum, the introduction of inquiry basedlearning initiatives and promoting the Creative Arts by increasing the range of extra–curricula activities for all students.

Progress towards achieving improvement measures

Improvement measures(to be achieved over 3 years)

Funds Expended(Resources)

Progress achieved this year

Improved average NAPLANperformance for all students

Additional resources weredevoted to improving thequality of English resourcesfor all students, with aparticular emphasis onproviding extensionmaterials for students inK–2.

72.2% of students in Year 5 achieved greater thanor equal to expected growth in Reading andSpelling, 69.9% in Grammar and Punctuation and65.8% in Numeracy.

Increased student engagementand satisfaction

A variety of engagingprograms were introducedthroughout the year topromote connectedness,including; Write a Book in aDay, Tournament of Minds,Science Club, Lego Club,Performing Arts groups,Dancesport and aMindfulness program K–6.

An average of 76% of students in Years 4–6reported they were interested and motivated in theTell Them From Me surveys, conducted in May andOctober. The school will continue to work towardsincreasing this percentage data.

Increase student participation inextra–curricula programs by 10%.

Our Creative Arts project in2017 saw the introduction ofa K–6 music program, aboys dancegroup, increased musicensembles, language cluband art classes. Increasedopportunities for students toperform externally werealso introduced, with theschool performing at theSchools Spectacular andthe Festival of InstrumentalMusic at the Opera Housefor the first time.

The school celebrated the achievement of thistarget, with 63% of students in Years 4–6 nowinvolved in extra–curricula programs, comparedwith 50% in 2016 Tell Them From Me data.

Next Steps

In 2018, we will maintain our current music program and look to introducing a drama club and orchestra for our students.As part of our planning we will seek additional areas to promote student engagement, particularly by looking at the mosteffective teaching strategies, as determined by the Centre for Educational Statistics and Evaluation. Our focus will alsobe on determining effective ways to measure and monitor student growth in learning.



Innovative Inspiring Teachers

Purpose

To foster an innovative, inspiring culture of collective efficacy and to develop collaborative, reflective teachers whosepractice is informed by student data and current research.


In 2017 the school enhanced the teacher induction process for new staff and maintained its good practice to supportearly career teachers in achieving their accreditation. Performance and Development Plans were created for all staff,with grade teams working towards grade goals as a basis for collaborative practice. Throughout 2017 we engaged in theExternal Validation process, which allowed staff to familiarise or deepen their understanding of the School ExcellenceFramework. The outcomes of this process led to the development of the 2018–2020 Strategic Plan.





Beginning teachers completeaccreditation in requiredtimeframes and receive ongoingprofessional support viamentoring, professional learningand networking opportunities.

Beginning teacher fundingwas used to support earlycareer teachers in theiraccreditation process,through mentoring, lessonobservations and feedback.

Two early career teachers met the requirements foraccreditation and attended professional learningopportunities provided by the PCS.

Professional learning plansincorporating professional goalsare developed,implemented and reviewed for allteachers.

QTSS funds were used tohire two teachers to assistclassroom and supportteachers to plan andobserve teaching.

All staff completed PDPs reflecting the professionalteaching standards, and participated in lessonobservations and feedback processes to meet PDPrequirements.

All staff are able to articulate thedomains of the school excellenceframework and the school's newlydetermined strategic directionsfor 2018.

Throughout terms 2 and 3,staff worked in projectteams to collect evidencefor the External Validationprocess. Some releasedays were also used toprovide time for projectleaders to prepare theirdata sets for EV.

All staff are now very aware of not only the SchoolExcellence Framework, but also the variouselements and domains within it. Staff are alsoaware of the need to collect data to determineevidence of impact – an important part of thedata–driven decision making process. Each teamdetermined "Where To Next" in this process, whichhas formed the basis of our 2018–2020 SchoolPlan.

Next Steps

In 2018 all staff will become NESA accredited and commence the process of maintaining accreditation status. We willneed to transition staff into this process by providing professional learning opportunities around recording theirprofessional learning against the Professional Standards for Teachers.

As staff continue to use lesson observations as a tool to provide feedback, in 2018 we aim to expand this process byproviding time for grades to collaborate on a weekly basis, to put into practice the recommended teaching strategies asdetermined by CESE (Centre for Educational Statistics and Evaluation).

In 2018, staff will become increasingly responsible for the management and delivery of the school plan, learning basicbudget maintenance and goal setting.



Committed Collaborative Community

Purpose

To build stronger relationships as an educational community by leading and inspiring a culture of collaboration, engagedcommunication, empowered leadership and organisational practice.


Many initiatives were implemented throughout 2017 to promote community engagement in our school. Overall, our TellThem From Me Parent data regarding parents being involved in school committees improved slightly from 26% in 2015to 30% in 2017. Improving our communication regarding school events was a high priority, again with a slightimprovement in "I am well informed about school activities" from 7.1 in 2015 to 7.4 in 2017.

The P & C welcomed a new president in 2017, which resulted in some new directions and initiatives being achieved. Acontinuation of this leadership into 2018 should see continued momentum towards our goal to involve parents morecollaboratively and meaningfully as part of our learning community.





Increased whole schoolparticipation in volunteer workthroughout the year at school.

Funds were expendedtowards the engagement ofa Community LiaisonOfficer in 2017.

The Community Liaison Officer was effective inmanaging the Class Parent forum processthroughout the year and improving the informationon our website and calendar to enhance schoolcommunication.

This year we trialed linking school events toparticular grades to improve volunteering rates,however this was not proven to be effective.

Increased parent and communityengagement.

Several events were heldthroughout the year to inviteparents into the school on aregular basis and promote awelcoming environment forour community. Funds wereused to transportgrandparents fromNarrabeen RSL to theschool for GrandparentsDay and to providetransport for the wholeschool to attend the ElanoraExtravaganza performanceheld at Pittwater Highschool.

The following events were held to engage ourschool community: • Elanora Extravaganza • Open Day • Grandparents day • Sports carnivals • Life Skills Family Day • Book character parade • Dancesport Gala Evening • Halloween Disco • Meet the Teachers evenings • Parent teacher interviews • Year 6 Fun day • Year 6 Farewell events • Stellar reading program • Live Life Well @ School programs • New Kindergarten collection procedures toencourage parents onto the school grounds • A variety of P & C events were held to promotecommunity engagement, including parent socialevenings and a fathers' day campout.Parents were surveyed following school events toprovide feedback which was used to inform futureplanning.

Next Steps

In 2018 we will continue our Community Liaison Officer position with a view to expanding the role to include more


emphasis on the communication of school events via the website and calendar. Parent forums and workshops will alsobe held to promote literacy and numeracy initiatives which support learning at home.

A Business Manager position will be created for 2 days per week in 2017 to facilitate a greater emphasis on schoolcommunity maintenance, management and communication.

The Class Parents program will be used to help involve more parents in school events and in a volunteering capacitywithin the school. Information forums will assist teachers to communicate more effectively with the parents in their classand improve the quality of understanding regarding school policies.


Key Initiatives Resources (annual) Impact achieved this year

Aboriginal background loading Used to provide time forstaff to develop plans withparents.

* Aboriginal Backgroundloading ($629)

A personal learning plan was developed forour Aboriginal students, in consultation withtheir parents and the class teacher. A new setof Acknowledgements To Country weredeveloped in consultation with our Aboriginalstaff members and students.

A group of 6 students represented our schoolat the Peninsula Community of Schools'NAIDOC week sleep out at Narrabeen LakesPublic School. Students participated inAboriginal cultural activities, including asmoking ceremony, dance, stories and art. Ahighlight of the evening was the opportunity toparticipate in a sharing circle.

English language proficiency Additional resources werepurchased for literacyprograms in K–2.

* English LanguageProficiency ($1,541)

All classes had access to quality literacyresources to support student learningoutcomes. Additional reading comprehensionresources were also purchased for Stage 1students to facilitate greater curriculumdifferentiation for high performing students.

Low level adjustment for disability * Low Level Adjustment forDisability ($89 695)

Additional teaching staff were employed tosupport students in their learning in Literacyand Numeracy throughout 2017, whichresulted in improved outcomes for students inNAPLAN, most notably with approximately70% of Year 5 students achieving greaterthan expected growth in Reading, Spelling,Grammar and Numeracy.

Quality Teaching, SuccessfulStudents (QTSS)

$44 693 Additional release time was provided forgrade teams to collaborate in thedevelopment of new report indicators inEnglish and Mathematics, grade units of workin History and Geography and to completelesson observations as part of thePerformance and Development Plan processfor every staff member.

Additional release time was also provided toour Assistant Principals to enable them toeffectively supervise their teams.

Socio–economic background Employment of aCommunity Liaison Officer2 days per week.

$14 204

A community Liaison Officer was employed toproduce our school newsletter and facilitatethe Class Parent program. In 2018 thesefunds will be allocated towards themaintenance of our school website to ensurethe currency of information to our community.

Support for beginning teachers $6 725 Support was provided for 2 teachers tocomplete the accreditation process viamentoring, lesson observations and time tocomplete their annotations for submission.Both applicants were successful in theiraccreditation process.


Student information

Student enrolment profile

Enrolments

Students 2014 2015 2016 2017

Boys 269 263 276 289

Girls 308 330 302 290

Overall enrolments have remained relatively stable overthe past 4 years, with the trend projected to remain thesame over coming years due to no new housingdevelopments in the immediate catchment area.

Student attendance profile

School

Year 2014 2015 2016 2017

K 95.9 94.6 96.5 95.8

1 95.8 94.4 95.1 94.9

2 96.2 94.9 94.4 95.2

3 95.5 94.2 95.6 94.7

4 96.2 93.3 93.9 94.5

5 95.5 93.3 94.2 95.1

6 95.6 93.8 94.1 93

All Years 95.9 94.1 94.8 94.8

State DoE

Year 2014 2015 2016 2017

K 95.2 94.4 94.4 94.4

1 94.7 93.8 93.9 93.8

2 94.9 94 94.1 94

3 95 94.1 94.2 94.1

4 94.9 94 93.9 93.9

5 94.8 94 93.9 93.8

6 94.2 93.5 93.4 93.3

All Years 94.8 94 94 93.9

Management of non-attendance

Attendance is monitored on a daily basis, with weeklyreports generated to track student absences.Throughout 2017 our attendance rates sat just abovethe state averages across all grades, with the exceptionof Year 6 which was 0.3% below.

To further improve student attendance rates a newprocess was introduced in Term 4 of 2017 whichinvolves parents being emailed early in the school day

if their child is absent. Parents are then required toprovide a reason for the absence either by letter, emailor by phoning the school.

Students with a number of unexplained absences aresent a letter from the school principal, requesting anexplanation for the reported absences in line with theDepartment of Education's Enrolment and AttendancePolicy.

Workforce information

Workforce composition

Position FTE*

Principal 1

Deputy Principal(s) 1

Assistant Principal(s) 4

Head Teacher(s) 0

Classroom Teacher(s) 21.49

Teacher of Reading Recovery 0.5

Learning & Support Teacher(s) 0.6

Teacher Librarian 1

Teacher of ESL 0

School Counsellor 0

School Administration & SupportStaff

4.06

Other Positions 0

*Full Time Equivalent

Two staff members at Elanora Heights Public Schoolidentify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders.

Teacher qualifications

All teaching staff meet the professional requirementsfor teaching in NSW public schools.

Teacher qualifications

Qualifications % of staff

Undergraduate degree or diploma 100

Postgraduate degree 21

Professional learning and teacher accreditation

Each year teacher professional learning is mapped toassist teachers to achieve personal goals outlined inthe PDP process, and to make progress on wholeschool targets. Professional learning meetings are


scheduled each week for an hour. In these sessions weuse a variety of effective professional learningstrategies to assist teachers to engage with knowledgepertinent to their practice. Opportunities are alsoprovided throughout the year for teachers to plantogether and observe one another in the classroomsetting. This combination provides professional growththrough both theoretical and practical knowledge. Thisyear we undertook a range of topics in our after schoolsessions, including further investigation aboutapplication of the History syllabus, assessment forlearning in Mathematics, and working in teams toaddress the school validation process. All mandatoryprofessional learning required of schools and teacherswas also conducted.

Teacher Accreditation

This year two teachers were supported to completetheiraccreditation with NESA at the proficiency level.There are currently noteachers seeking accreditation atLead level. Preparations are being made toassist allteachers to become familiar with the accreditationprocess as allteachers will be required to be registeredfor learning hours from 2018.

Financial information (for schoolsfully deployed to SAP/SALM)

Financial summary

The information provided in the financial summaryincludes reporting from 1 January 2017 to 31December 2017.

2017 Actual ($)

Opening Balance 391,876

Revenue 4,553,347

Appropriation 4,111,958

Sale of Goods and Services 34,142

Grants and Contributions 400,093

Gain and Loss 0

Other Revenue 0

Investment Income 7,155

Expenses -4,558,156

Recurrent Expenses -4,516,554

Employee Related -4,015,873

Operating Expenses -500,681

Capital Expenses -41,602

Employee Related 0

Operating Expenses -41,602

SURPLUS / DEFICIT FOR THEYEAR

-4,809

Balance Carried Forward 387,067

The school meets the audit requirements of both theDepartment of Education and the Auditor General, withworkflow and authorisation for all income andexpenditure as determined by the LearningManagement and Business Reform (LMBR) systems.

In 2017 the school’s operating expenses exceeded theallocation provided. As a result an amount wastransferred from School and Community Funds to makeup the shortfall.

Operating expenses were exceeded due to the highlevel of staff leave, accumulated invoices, which shouldhave been paid at the end of2016 and were notpresented and improvements to the school. The schoolalso suffered an underground water leak which inflatedthe expenditure on Utilities.

The new budgeting tool allows for a more accuratemeans of budget preparation for 2018 which willimprove financial management.

In 2018 improvements to student amenity, such as new


fencing, have been scheduled, using accumulatedSchool and Community funds.

Financial summary equity funding

The equity funding data is the main component of the'Appropriation' section of the financial summary above.

2017 Actual ($)

Base Total 3,758,094

Base Per Capita 88,334

Base Location 0

Other Base 3,669,761

Equity Total 106,069

Equity Aboriginal 629

Equity Socio economic 14,204

Equity Language 1,541

Equity Disability 89,695

Targeted Total 22,701

Other Total 97,854

Grand Total 3,984,719

Figures presented in this report may be subject torounding so may not reconcile exactly with the bottomline totals, which are calculated without any rounding.

A full copy of the school's financial statement is tabledat the annual general meetings of the parent and/orcommunity groups. Further details concerning thestatement can be obtained by contacting the school.

School performance

NAPLAN

In the National Assessment Program, the results acrossthe Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 literacy andnumeracy assessments are reported on a scale fromBand 1 to Band 10. The achievement scalerepresents increasing levels of skillsand understandings demonstrated in theseassessments.

Year 3 performed well in their very first NAPLANassessments in 2017 with the following percentage ofstudents achieving in the top two bands for: • Grammar and Punctuation – 70% • Reading – 56.7% • Spelling – 51.1% • Writing – 65.5%

Most notably, we had very low representation in thelower bands, an indicator of the strength of our learningsupport programs.

Year 5 students showed pleasing growth in Literacysince their Year 3 assessment, with the followingresults being achieved: • 69.9% of students achieving greater than or equal

to expected growth in Grammar and Punctuation • 72.2% of students achieving greater than or equal

to expected growth in Reading • 77.2% of students achieving greater than or equal

to expected growth in Spelling, and • 59.% of students achieving greater than or equal

to expected growth in Writing. • IN 2018, we will hope to improve on these scores,

to ensure that all students are achieving desirablegrowth in their learning.


Band 1 2 3 4 5 6

Percentage of students 4.4 3.3 6.7 15.6 35.6 34.4

School avg 2015-2017 1.9 1.1 9.0 17.2 28.7 42.2

Band 1 2 3 4 5 6


School avg 2015-2017 1.5 3.4 10.3 15.7 23.9 45.3

Band 1 2 3 4 5 6


School avg 2015-2017 0.4 4.2 9.2 23.7 27.4 35.1


Band 1 2 3 4 5 6


School avg 2015-2017 0.4 1.1 7.7 22.0 46.5 22.3

Band 3 4 5 6 7 8


School avg 2015-2017 0.9 6.1 14.2 26.6 29.8 22.4

Band 3 4 5 6 7 8


School avg 2015-2017 0.9 4.9 13.7 25.2 29.4 26.0


Band 3 4 5 6 7 8


School avg 2015-2017 0.5 4.9 13.0 31.0 29.5 21.1

Band 3 4 5 6 7 8


School avg 2015-2017 0.5 3.2 25.0 41.5 21.3 8.6

Our Year 3 students performed well in Numeracy, with50% of students achieving in the top two bands and nostudents achieving in the lowest band. Equally, in Year5, no students achieved the lowest band, with 56.8% ofstudents achieving in the top two bands for Numeracy. 65.8% of our Year 5 students achieved greater than orequal to expected growth in this learning area.

This is a target for our school to improve and we willwork towards determining the most effective teachingstrategies to achieve positive student growth in 2018and beyond.

Band 1 2 3 4 5 6


School avg 2015-2017 0.0 3.0 16.9 23.0 22.7 34.4


Band 3 4 5 6 7 8


School avg 2015-2017 0.0 4.2 17.0 34.6 29.7 14.6

The My School website provides detailedinformation and data for national literacy and numeracytesting.

Go to http://www.myschool.edu.au to access theschool data.

Overall the number of students achieving in the top twobands for Reading and Numeracy remained relativelysteady from 2016–2017, with an average of 57.3% ofstudents achieving the Premier's Priority. This will be agrowth target for future planning at the school level.

Parent/caregiver, student, teachersatisfaction

The Tell Them From Me survey was conducted again in2017, with similar results being attained across thesurveyed areas from 2016.

The following results were obtained from our Parentsurvey, with 48 respondents, conducted in October.(Results are out of 10 as a maximum, with the NSWGovt Norm in brackets)

Parents feel welcome – 7.6 (7.4)

Parents are informed – 6.4 (6.6)

30% of parent respondents are involved in schoolcommittees

Parents support learning at home – 6.0 (6.3)

The school supports learning – 7.7 (7.3)

The school supports positive behaviour – 8.1 (7.7)

Safety at school – 7.2 (7.4)

The school is inclusive – 6.7 (6.7)

26% of respondents had provided input to schoolplanning, and 17% into the development or review ofschool policies.

The majority of volunteer work was assisting the school(23% on a weekly basis).

92% of respondents expect their child to complete Year12, with 55% expecting their child to go on toUniversity.

In response to these results, the school will employ aCommunity Liaison Officer again in 2018, with a view toexpanding the role to involve more communicationchannels.

Our students in Years 4, 5 and 6 completed the TellThem From Me survey in May and October in 2017,with the following results expressed as a percentage ofthe cohort respondents: (NSW Govt Norms in brackets)

Students participate in extracurricular activities – 63%(55%)

Students with a positive sense of belonging – 76%(81%)

Students with positive relationships – 89% (85%)

Students with positive behaviour at school – 93% (83%)

Students who are interested and motivated – 73%(78%)

35% of student in the school had scores that placedthem in the desirable quadrant with high skill and highchallenge. The NSW Govt norm for this category is


53%, so this is a target for improvement in 2018.

Students who are victims of bullying – 20% (36%)

In 2018, we will continue to develop curriculumofferings to ensure students are engaged in theirlearning and feel challenged. Positive wellbeingprograms will be continued and developed further toensure we remain well under the state norm for bullyingand maintain our positive behaviour.

In October our teachers completed the Tell Them FromMe survey, with 15 teachers responding to questionswithin 8 different domains which drive student learning.The results obtained for each domain are out of amaximum of 10, with the NSW Govt Norm expressed inbrackets.

Leadership – 6.0 (7.1)

Collaboration – 7.5 (7.8)

Learning Culture – 8.2 (8.0)

Data Informs Practice – 8.1 (7.8)

Teaching Strategies – 8.2 (7.9)

Technology – 7.0 (6.7)

Inclusive School – 8.5 (8.2)

Parent Involvement – 7.8 (6.8)

The staff have identified that Leadership and its impacton teacher development and student learning is a keyarea for development in 2018.

Policy requirements

Aboriginal education

The Peninsula Community of School celebratedNAIDOC Week with two main events and ElanoraHeights P.S. was actively involved in both. The first wasan art show held at Warriewood Square shopping

centre. EHPS students contributed four artworks to theexhibition, themed “Connection –Community andBeyond”. Using ATSI history and culture as inspiration,students created artworks that demonstrated their ownconnection to the community and wider environment.The art show was opened with a smoking ceremonyand performances by Indigenous students andmembers of the local community.

EHPS students also participated in the PCS NAIDOCWeek “Sleep Out”. Indigenous students and theirfriends were invited to Narrabeen Lakes P.S. to join in arange of activities that celebrate ATSI culture. Ourstudents worked with Indigenous members of thecommunity to learn traditional dances, create artworks,cook, sing and listen to traditional stories.

Multicultural and anti-racism education

The school has reviewed its teaching and learningprograms this year to ensure that culturally inclusiveclassroom and school practices are embeddedthroughout the teaching of curriculum for all students. Awide variety of resources were purchased to facilitatethe teaching of multicultural perspectives, particularly inEnglish, History and Geography.

Further to this, several programs were implemented tofoster students' understanding of culture, culturaldiversity, racism and active citizenship within ademocratic, multicultural society. These includedHarmony Day, Together for Humanity and Life Skills.The school also has a trained Anti–Racism GrievanceOfficer on staff who is available to provide advice onany issues relating to racist behaviour.

Other school programs

Creative Arts:

2017 was a successful year for students involved it theCreative Arts, with the addition of many new events.

The school now has 3 Concert Bands, 3 String Groups,3 Dance Groups, 1 boys dance group, 2 Choirs,and guitar, clarinet and recorder ensembles.

Each of these groups has had opportunities to performboth within the school, at various assemblies and


outside of school at music and dance festivals.

Some highlights of the program include The SydneyNorth Dance Festival and The Northern BeachesInstrumental Festival where all string and concertbands participated. The Senior String group performedfor the first time as part of the combined strings at theInstrumental Festival at the Sydney Opera House.

13 students from the 3–6 choir performed in thecombined choir for the 2017 Schools Spectacular.

The junior dance group, clarinet ensemble and choirallparticipated in the annual PCS music festival withone of our choir studentschosen to sing in a solo group.

In September we hadour first Elanora Extravaganzawhich took place at Pittwater High School.This eventshowcased 17 of our creative arts groups in an eveningof entertainment.

Boys Dance Group

The introduction of a Boys Dance Group this year atElanora Heights Public School has proven to be asuccess. Throughout Semester 1, 13 boys from Years5 and 6 participated in weekly rehearsals, working onan Oompa Loompa Dance that was a tribute tothe movie and theatre legend, Gene Wilder. The boysdisplayed pleasing progress and enjoyed participatingin this new initiative. At the end of Term 2, they had theopportunity to perform their dance at the Sydney NorthDance Festival at Glen Street Theatre. They also hadother performance opportunities at school open daysand the Elanora Extravaganza. We hope that thisprogram will continue to run in future years, promotingboys participating in the Performing Arts.

Senior Girls Dance Group

The 2017 senior girls dance group was made up of 24year 5 and 6 students. Two lunch time auditionsessions were held to determine the group participants.The group practised every week on a Thursday at lunchtime for all of Term 1 and Term 2. In early Term 2 wetravelled by bus to Newport Public School for theauditions for the Sydney North Dance festival. We weresuccessful and went to perform three shows atGlenstreet Theatre during the final week of Term 2. Thedance was titled ‘Come to Carnivale’.

Junior Dance Group

The extremely dedicated junior dancers gave up two oftheir play–times per week to rehearse and perfect theircolourful dance ‘Move Your Feet’. The messagecommunicated through this dance item was that danceand music brings people together, as the lyrics of thesong say, “everybody, move your feet and feel united!”This high energy group of students danced their heartsout at multiple events including the PCS Music Festival,Open Day and The Elanora Extravaganza! All boys andgirls involved had a blast!

Dancesport

The Dancesport program was introduced to Elanora in

2016. The program is aimed at year 5 students andprovides students with an opportunity to learn ballroomstyle dances. The school has increased theirinvolvement in the program in 2017 by participating inthe Homebush Dancesport Confidence event. The top40 couples from Elanora represented the school in theexhibition dances while 8 of those couples competedagainst other Macquarie Park schools to earn a trophyin their specified dance style. In order to be inclusive ofall students we held an in school gala event whichprovided anopportunity for students who were notselected for Homebush to have an in–school danceexhibition and competition.

Book Character Parade:

During Book Week this year, all students K–6participated in the Book Character Parade. Costumeswere made at home and related to the theme “Escapeto Everywhere with a Book”.

To support this theme, students decided where theywould like to escape to, such as the Ocean or Narniaand dressed as a character related to a book in thelibrary e.g. “The Rainbow Fish” or the Witch from “TheLion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. Many characterswere from books on the Premier’s Reading Challengelist. Students wore a sign or banner to let the audienceknow who their character was in order to motivateothers to borrow the books their character represented.

Parents and students were delighted by the costumingand gathered around the parading students,commenting to each other on the effort students hadmade to represent their characters. Following theparade, positive feedback was received from studentsand members of the school community.

Lego Club

Mrs Reeks facilitated the LEGO Club in its inauguralyear at Elanora Heights Public School. The LEGO Clubran from Term 1 through to Term 4. Club numbersvaried from 15 to 20 students per session. Interestedstudents were invited to attend open and structuredplay in a social setting. Participants were encouraged tobring in their own LEGO or use school LEGO materials.The attending students discussed different LEGOpieces as well as how to use them when constructing adiverse range of Lego formations. The LEGO clubsuccessfully engaged the children’s ’imagination andconstruction skills.

Move–a–Thon

It was a stinking hot September morning when theentire school went outside and GOT MOVING for theMOVE–A–THON! Stair runs, ball games,relay races,boot camp and many more activities got the hearts ofteachers and students pumping. Thank you for thewonderful effort in collecting sponsorship money. Ahuge $10, 959 was raised and will be put towardsfunding a school–wide sports program that will run in2018. A special mention to the infants and primaryclasses that raised the most money, 1 Yellow and 5Green!


2017 Elanora Heights Public School Annual Report...Introduction The Annual Report for 2017€is...

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Transcript of 2017 Elanora Heights Public School Annual Report...Introduction The Annual Report for 2017€is...